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President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have greeted Ram Nath Kovind on being elected the President of India. “I firmly believe that the ties of friendship and cooperation, which so happily exist between our two countries, will further be widened and deepened under your able presidency,” President Hamid said in his congratulatory message to the India’s new president. In her message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, “We continue to look forward to working closely with the government of India in elevating our multifarious relations further in order to achieve common prosperity for our peoples.” Extending her heartiest congratulations, Hasina warmly invited the newly-elected Indian president to visit Bangladesh at his convenience, reports BSS.  ....

Published at: 2017-07-21 00:00:05

Speakers at a programme in Gaibandha have underscored the need for waging a social movement against contraband drugs abuse. They also urged all to creating awareness among the people about the bad effects of narcotics to build a drug-free society. Eradication of narcotics is not possible without a social movement, they said while addressing an anti-narcotics gathering organised at Eidga Maidan. Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Ministry Abul Kalam Azad, MP, addressed the meeting as the chief guest. source – BSS  ....

Published at: 2017-07-21 00:00:05

The government has suspended further borrowing from the banking system through cancelling upcoming six auctions of its securities for this month to ensure proper cash management, officials said. The Bangladesh Bank (BB) apprised on Thursday the commercial banks of the government's decision on cancellation of auctions of both treasury bills (T-bills) and bonds. "We've informed the banks of the government's decision in line with the finance ministry's advice," a senior BB official told the FE. He also said the issue is likely to be discussed in the next CDMC (Cash and Debt Management Committee) meeting scheduled to be held on July 26.The government's latest move came against the backdrop of holding adequate amount of liquidity recently, the central banker explained. Currently, the government is holding around Tk 30 billion excess liquidity in its accounts. "Higher sales of savings instruments along with a rising trend in revenue collection have pushed up the government's excess liquidity balance," another BB official explained. Such excess liquidity has also helped the government lessen its borrowing from the banking system, according to the central banker. The government's net bank borrowing is still at a negative level, amounting to Tk 24.10 billion as of July 13, mainly due to higher growth in the savings tools sales, the official added. However, the government did not borrow from the banking system in net terms during the just-concluded fiscal year (FY); rather it repaid a large portion of debts. The government paid back Tk 180.29 billion to the banks in the FY 2016-17 as against its borrowing of Tk 48.07 billion in the FY 16. Bankers, however, expressed concern over the government's latest decision, saying that it may push up the amount of excess liquidity with the banks. The inter-bank call money interest rate may fall slightly, if BB's ongoing initiative of mopping up excess money from the market is not expedited, they added. The government had planned to borrow Tk 54 billion through holding the six auctions of both T-bills and bonds rest of days this month, according to the auction calendar. "It may also hamper the overall profitability of the banks by the end of this calendar year," a senior treasury official of a leading private commercial bank (PCB) told the FE while explaining the impact of the government's decision. He also said the growth of the secondary bond market may be hampered following the government's decision on the suspension of its securities auctions. The Ministry of Finance had set a bank-borrowing target of Tk 282.03 billion for the FY18 to finance the budget deficit partly.   Under the proposed arrangement, Tk 208.87 billion will be borrowed from the banking system by issuing long-term Bangladesh Government Treasury Bonds (BGTBs) while the remaining Tk 73.16 billion through auctions of short-term T-bills. Currently, three T-bills are being transacted through auctions to adjust the government borrowings from the banking system. The T-bills have 91-day, 182-day and 364-day maturity periods. Furthermore, five government bonds with tenures of 02, 05, 10, 15 and 20 years are traded on the market. siddique.islam@gmail.com    ....

Published at: 2017-07-21 00:00:05

FE Report The disbursement of loans to construct homes soared in last eight years from 2009 to 2016, but it declined sharply in cases of purchasing flats or apartments, according to a new study report. The loans for construction out of the total home loans disbursed increased by over 41 per cent to around 66 per cent in 2016 from 25 per cent in 2009. It was around 30 per cent of the total home loan in 2006. On the other hand, the loans to purchase flats and apartments declined by 33.81 per cent of the total home loans in last eight years to 20.81 per cent in 2016 from 54.62 per cent in 2009. It was 35 per cent in 2006. The study report titled 'Home Loan of Banks: Trend and Impact' was released at a discussion meeting at Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) auditorium in the capital Thursday. It was not, however, made clear why the trend had taken a shift from the flat loans to the home construction loans. The market insiders indicated that the developers might have taken loans to construct the buildings but could not sell the flats or apartments to the clients, who would have created the demand for the loans. BIBM director Professor Md Mohiuddin Siddique, Associate Professors Md Alamgir and Dr Mohammad Tazul Islam conducted the study based on data from the Bangladesh Bank, International Finance Corporation and the World Bank during a period from 2006 to 2016. The team studied loan performance of 17 private commercial banks (PCBs), three Islamic banks, one state-owned commercial bank (SOCB), one foreign commercial bank (FCB) and one specialised bank.   The total outstanding home loans from banks and financial institutions as of end June 2016 amounted to Tk 562.9 billion, which was 9.1 per cent of total credit to the private sector. The PCBs hads the highest share of Tk 309.2 billion or 55 per cent of the total outstanding loans while SOCBs Tk 119.3 billion or 21 per cent, specialised housing finance institutions Tk 70 billion or 12 per cent, FCBs Tk 21 billion or 4 per cent.   The rest Tk 43 billion (8.0 per cent) came from other specialised financial institutions and micro lenders. The share of Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC) has not grown much during the study period from 2006 to 2016. They had disbursed only Tk 27.8 billion in 2006, which stood only at Tk 31 billion in 2016. On the other hand, the PCBs share was Tk 35 billions in 2006 which stood at Tk 309.2 billion in 2016, registering almost nine times higher. The study found that 64 per cent of the banks fixed their respective interest rates on home loans by negotiating with their clients and differentials in interest rates among the similar category of borrowers have been found in 77 per cent banks. The rate varied from 8.0 per cent to 15 per cent. Some 64 per cent banks have no separate wings to deal with the home loan disbursement and recovery though around 73 per cent banks have separate home loan policy. The mortgage debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Bangladesh was found just over 3.0 per cent compared to 9.0 per cent in India and 50-70 per cent in the developed countries. The country's mortgage debt to GDP peaked at 3.51 per cent in 2013 and had since declined to 3.28 per cent in 2014 and 3.23 per cent in 2015. The share of home loan was only 3.21 per cent in 2006 which peaked to 5.98 per cent in 2011 and then declined to 5.69 per cent in 2016. The study found home loan in rural areas increased by 12 per cent in last 10 years. The urban-rural home loan ratio improved to 83:17 in 2016 from 95:05 in 2006. The study observed that the average non-performing loans (NPLs) to home loans were lower than average NPL to total loans. The overall NPL ratio was 5.45 per cent in 2006 whereas the same for home loan was only 1.57 per cent. The NPL to total loan peaked in 2014 to 8.36 per cent whereas home loan peaked to 4.18 per cent. The NPL to total loan is now 8.16 per cent whereas NPL to home loan is 3.12 per cent. Speaking as the chief guest at the programme, BB deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury said access to affordable housing finance by the low and middle income segment of people would help reduce discrimination among the citizens of a country. He says residential investment directly stimulates economic growth through the creation of job in the construction related sectors, improves the public health condition and reduces the vulnerability of the people living in the countries which are prone to natural disaster like Bangladesh. Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh chief executive officer Abrar A. Anwar sought central bank's intervention to fix an interest rate for housing loans.    He urged Bangladesh Bank to allow a debt-equity ratio of 80:20 for home loan to non-resident Bangladeshis so that they show more interest to invest in home in Bangladesh. It would also help boost inward remittance, he added. He also stressed the need for floating zero-coupon bond for investing in home purpose only. Shimanto Bank Ltd managing director Muklesur Rahman urged the bankers to be creative and diversified in designing the home loan products. bdsmile@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-21 00:00:05

The Editors' Council expressed grave concern over the draft Digital Security Act in a meeting in the city on Thursday. The meeting was chaired by Editors' Council President and Samakal Editor Golam Sarwar. The Council said the Section 19 of the proposed Digital Security Act contains all the anti-free press elements of Section 57 of the existing Information and Communication Technology Act. Although the law minister had said a few days ago that the Section 57 would be revoked, but Section 19 of the proposed Digital Security Act has the same repressive provisions of Section 57 in an even harsher form. "We are also concerned that the section 15 (5) of the draft would be a major impediment for freedom of thought and freedom of expression as someone's narrative of the history of the Liberation War and relevant issues will be regarded as a 'digital criminal offense' if that goes against government's narrative," the council said in a statement adopted in the meeting. "Therefore, we call upon the government to totally remove such restrictive provisions in order to create a scope for lively discussion on the country's rich history of struggle and Independence," it added. "We express concern over the draft of the National Online Mass Media Policy. The provision of the ICT Act including Section 57 has been incorporated in this draft policy as it has been done in the Digital Security Act. We raise our concern over the draft, because the draft also has the provision to consider the so-called defamation of any individual or organisation as criminal offence." The editors urge the government to repeal all provisions that come as impediments to the freedom of speech. "We demand scrapping of the provision that considers the so-called defamation of any individual or organisation as a criminal offence. We urge that it be made mandatory to go to the Press Council first for remedy over such issues," the statement said. "We want to clearly state that any kind of direct or indirect interference through the above-mentioned laws in the established newspaper and electronic media and their digital media operations like website, online and social media would not be acceptable. "However, we call on the unregulated online and social media to be respectful to the existing media ethics and norms," it further said. The editors strongly protested against and condemned all attacks on journalists. They demanded neutral investigation into such incidents and bringing of the people responsible to book. The Editors' Council also demanded withdrawal of all false cases filed across the country by the government officials and members of the ruling party against editors and journalists. "At the same time, we are demanding withdrawal of all cases filed under Section 57 against editors and journalists and release of the detained journalists". "In the end, we strongly demand that the government repeal Section 57 of the ICT Act fully and refrain from taking any initiative to re-introduce similar provisions in any new law as they go against the Constitution and serve as a threat to the freedom of speech and journalism which is guaranteed by the Constitution," said the statement. The meeting was also attended by Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam, Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman, acting editor of the daily Ittefaq Tasmima Hossain, News Today editor Reazuddin Ahmed, Financial Express editor AHM Moazzem Hossain, Manabjamin editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, Bhorer Kagoj editor Shyamal Dutta, Kaler Kantho editor Emdadul Haq Milon, Bangladesh Protidin editor Nayeem Nizam, Sangbad editor Khondkar Muniruzzaman,  acting editor of Jugantor Saiful Alam, and Banik Barta editor Dewan Hanif Mahmud.....

Published at: 2017-07-21 00:00:05